The influence of operating variables on the residence time distribution for material transport in a continuous rotary drum

Abstract Experimental results for the influence of operating variables on the mean and variance of the residence time distribution for material transport in a continuous rotary drum are described. The variables considered are drum rotational speed, drum inclination, feed rate of material and particle size of material. A stimulus-response technique based on an impulse of a colored tracer, otherwise identical to the bulk material, was used. The validity of the axial dispersion model for the description of the behavior of this non-segregating transport system is demonstrated. This is accomplished with an approximate form of the exact solution to the axial dispersion model for an impulse input; it is valid for the relatively large values of the Peclet number characteristic of the experimental system.